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Exhibition History"Art of the American Indian: The Thaw Collection," The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH, March 2, 2010 - May 30, 2010; Minneapolis Museum of Art, Minneapolis, MN, October 24, 2010 - January 9, 2011; Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas, TX, April 24, 2011 - September 23, 2011; Indianapolis Museum of Art, Indianapolis, IN, December 4, 2011 - February 12, 2012.
"American Indian Art from the Fenimore Art Museum: The Thaw Collection," The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY, May 9, 2017 - October 8, 2017.
"American Indian Art from the Fenimore Art Museum: The Thaw Collection," Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute, Utica, NY, October 13, 2018 - December 31, 2018.
"American Indian Art from the Fenimore Art Museum: The Thaw Collection," Mitchell Gallery, St John's College, Annapolis, MD, February 28, 2020 - April 26, 2020.
ProvenanceWolfgang Paalen, Mexico, collected by Paalen in Haida Gwaii, British Columbia, between May and September 1939; Proctor Stafford, Honolulu, Hawaii; Don Ellis (N1086), Dundas, Ohio
BibliographyPaalen, Wolfgang. "Totem Art." DYN, No.4-5, (1943): pl.V.
Covarrubias, Miguel. El Arte Indigena de Norteamerica: Exposiocion Celebrada en el Museo Nacional de Antropologia del xx de marso al xx de abril de 1945. Mexico: Fondo de Cultural Economica, 1945, p. 64, pl. 32.
Cole, Herbert M. Symbols of Prestige: Native American Art of the Northwest Coast from Los Angeles Collections. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1985, p. 4, cat. no. 49, 26.
"Wolfgang Paalen, "DYN" and the American Avant-Garde of the 1940s." Ph.D. Diss. City University of New York, 1995, pp.77-78, 198, fig.12.
Donald Ellis Advertisement. American Indian Art Magazine, Vol.21, No.3, (Summer 1996):13.
1996 Winter Antiques Show, p.45.
Art & Antiques. "Top 100 Treasures." Vol XX, No.3. (March 1997):93.
Vincent, Gilbert et al. Art of the North American Indians: The Thaw Collection. Cooperstown, New York: Fenimore Art Museum, 2000, p.334-335.
Fognell, Eva and Alexander Brier Marr, eds. Art of the North American Indians: The Thaw Collection at the Fenimore Art Museum, 2nd ed. Cooperstown, New York: Fenimore Art Museum, 2016, p. 370.
Murdock, Michelle, ed. 50 at 20: Masterpieces of American Indian Art from the Thaw Collection. Cooperstown, NY: Fenimore Art Museum, 2015, p. 26.
Fognell, Eva, ed. Art of the American Indians: The Thaw Collection. Cooperstown, NY: Fenimore Art Museum, 2010, p. 128.
Culture
Haida or Tsimshian
Copper
Datec. 1840-1860
MediumCopper sheet, paint
DimensionsOverall: 25 1/2 × 16 × 1 in. (64.8 × 40.6 × 2.5 cm)
Object numberT0715
Credit LineLoan from the Eugene V. and Clare E. Thaw Charitable Trust
Photograph by Richard Walker
Label TextAt potlatches, influential chiefs displayed coppers, symbols of wealth. Individual coppers were named and often decorated with images that referred to their histories. This copper was painted black and then engraved to expose the metal beneath. The image may be of a bird since talons appear at the lower sides of the engraving.Exhibition History"Art of the American Indian: The Thaw Collection," The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH, March 2, 2010 - May 30, 2010; Minneapolis Museum of Art, Minneapolis, MN, October 24, 2010 - January 9, 2011; Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas, TX, April 24, 2011 - September 23, 2011; Indianapolis Museum of Art, Indianapolis, IN, December 4, 2011 - February 12, 2012.
"American Indian Art from the Fenimore Art Museum: The Thaw Collection," The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY, May 9, 2017 - October 8, 2017.
"American Indian Art from the Fenimore Art Museum: The Thaw Collection," Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute, Utica, NY, October 13, 2018 - December 31, 2018.
"American Indian Art from the Fenimore Art Museum: The Thaw Collection," Mitchell Gallery, St John's College, Annapolis, MD, February 28, 2020 - April 26, 2020.
ProvenanceWolfgang Paalen, Mexico, collected by Paalen in Haida Gwaii, British Columbia, between May and September 1939; Proctor Stafford, Honolulu, Hawaii; Don Ellis (N1086), Dundas, Ohio
BibliographyPaalen, Wolfgang. "Totem Art." DYN, No.4-5, (1943): pl.V.
Covarrubias, Miguel. El Arte Indigena de Norteamerica: Exposiocion Celebrada en el Museo Nacional de Antropologia del xx de marso al xx de abril de 1945. Mexico: Fondo de Cultural Economica, 1945, p. 64, pl. 32.
Cole, Herbert M. Symbols of Prestige: Native American Art of the Northwest Coast from Los Angeles Collections. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1985, p. 4, cat. no. 49, 26.
"Wolfgang Paalen, "DYN" and the American Avant-Garde of the 1940s." Ph.D. Diss. City University of New York, 1995, pp.77-78, 198, fig.12.
Donald Ellis Advertisement. American Indian Art Magazine, Vol.21, No.3, (Summer 1996):13.
1996 Winter Antiques Show, p.45.
Art & Antiques. "Top 100 Treasures." Vol XX, No.3. (March 1997):93.
Vincent, Gilbert et al. Art of the North American Indians: The Thaw Collection. Cooperstown, New York: Fenimore Art Museum, 2000, p.334-335.
Fognell, Eva and Alexander Brier Marr, eds. Art of the North American Indians: The Thaw Collection at the Fenimore Art Museum, 2nd ed. Cooperstown, New York: Fenimore Art Museum, 2016, p. 370.
Murdock, Michelle, ed. 50 at 20: Masterpieces of American Indian Art from the Thaw Collection. Cooperstown, NY: Fenimore Art Museum, 2015, p. 26.
Fognell, Eva, ed. Art of the American Indians: The Thaw Collection. Cooperstown, NY: Fenimore Art Museum, 2010, p. 128.
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